


Ultimatum's End

by factorielle



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Jossed, Separations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-05-10
Updated: 2005-05-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 22:24:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/105031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/factorielle/pseuds/factorielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Spoilers up to chapter 210; everything past this chapter is made up.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Ultimatum's End

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to chapter 210; everything past this chapter is made up.

It wasn't hard, when you knew Gon as well as Killua did, to know where he would be at a time like this. Indeed, it took him four and a half minutes to find his friend on the supposedly inaccessible roof of the highest building in town, a five-star hotel that they wouldn't have been able to afford even at their richest time.

Gon was laying on the almost-boiling cement and staring right at the sun, unmindful of the damage to his eyes. He gave no indication of having noticed Killua's presence, but he'd probably _felt_ him even before he was halfway up the emergency stairs anyway. Nen was truly a useful ability.

Killua plopped down next to his friend, spreading his arms as wide as he could, as if, maybe, it would allow him to fly away from the real world.

Their breathing adjusted to each other's almost immediately, and they remained there in comfortable silence, looking up at the cloudless sky. Reminiscing, for those that wouldn't be able to enjoy the wind and scorching heat ever again.

It took Killua a long fraction of eternity to gather up all his courage and speak.

"Do you know what my weakness is?" he asked. _Assassins don't show their abilities, and certainly not their weaknesses. But as long as I'm here with you... I'm not an assassin. And I want you to know. Just in case._  
"What? Killua has no weakness." There was such unconditional confidence and admiration in Gon's voice that Killua wondered, not for the first time, how he'd managed to survive long enough for them to meet in this cruel world. But he'd come to the answer, a long time ago, that his naivety was part of Gon's magic.

"I run away," he admitted after a long silence.

"Uh?" There was apparently nothing more Gon could say, but at any rate it was enough incentive for Killua to go on.

"I run away. When I'm facing an opponent that's stronger than me... I fight to run away. That's what Biske told me during that..." _one-way beating up session_ "special training."

Gon shifted to face him, and now their fingertips were brushing against each other. Through over a year of training and fighting together, they'd touched often and without the slightest second thought about it, but for some reason, this time, it made Killua shiver.

"But you didn't run away back there." And the painful part was that it was true. Back in the palace that was so close to their current location that he could almost smell the blood spilt by both sides, in a place that had proved Kaito right -_whether we win or lose, it's hell that awaits us_\- Killua had fought. But that didn't matter anymore.

"Yeah. But it was too late."

"Too late for what?" Gon asked innocently, and that was the hard question. It took Killua a deep intake of breath to calm down enough to be able to answer it.

"Back then, she said..." his voice caught there, because no matter how much he wanted to blame it all on the old hag, she'd been _right_ " She said that if I couldn't beat Shoot, I would have to leave your side. Because sooner or later I'd end up leaving you to die somewhere."

"Oh..." There was silence, and Killua had never been so aware of Gon's presence.

Then Gon jumped on his feet, breaking the frail connexion between their fingers and leaving Killua to feel dreadfully cold and alone.

"Well, isn't that ok?" he said, looking down at Killua's face, his hair haloed by the sun behind him.

_That_ was what Killua had been most afraid of seeing- not pain, not refusal... simple acceptance. Even worse, enthusiasm. Gon had said before that he felt lucky to have met Killua, but that had been a long time ago. And who cared if the emotionless killer's heart was breaking inside? It wasn't like he'd have any use for it anymore.

"Because that's a risk, right?" Gon went on, grinning wildly. "So if you leave me... you'd just be running away from the danger?"

It took Killua a good ten seconds to process what Gon had just said, then his eyes widened, and he burst out laughing - the kind of laughter that was too close to tears to really make a difference.

"What? It's true!" Gon protested, pouting slightly. And now that his eyes were accustomed to the blinding light, Killua could see that his friend's eyes were slightly narrowed, and his posture was tense. Then Gon stepped away and went to stand on a corner of the roof, two hundred meters above ground level, facing the sea.

He'd left him alone to think, but Killua already knew he was right. There was even a hint of logic in that twisted reasoning. He'd said he'd stay with Gon until he found what he wanted to do, and eventually he'd found that what he wanted to do was stay with Gon. The old hag was trying to make him learn not to run away from enemies, and to leave Gon's side at the same time. But that was impossible, because anyone, anything that threatened Gon was his enemy. Which meant there was a choice to make between saving Gon from an hypothetical danger later along the line, and fleeing yet again.

It was not much of a decision to make, then.

He sprang to his feet and walked up to where Gon was still standing, an arm extended and apparently having a conversation with the well-fed seagull clutching at his wrist. The bird flew away when Killua came within two meters of them, and the two friends stood alone together, side by side on the edge, half a step away from a deadly fall.

"You know... she's going to pound me to within an inch of my life for this," Killua mentioned conversationally, looking far to the horizon, where sky and sea melted together.

Gon shrugged.

"Yeah, but that's still better than separating, right?" And for a second, Killua wondered if Gon _knew_, despite his total inability to say anything about it, how much their friendship meant to him. If, maybe, it meant just as much to Gon.

"Right, but you'd better stay at my beside for as long as it takes me to be able to walk again," he answered with his first true grin since Biske's ultimatum- and maybe it was more than just chance that the back of their hands brushed together then, but neither of them moved away as they stood there in quiet companionship until the sun had set.


End file.
